How to Remove RV Headboard: A Practical Guide!

Are you thinking about renovating your RV but aren’t sure where to start, especially with things like the headboard in the bedroom poised to be an absolute nightmare? You’re in luck! It turns out that learning how to remove an RV headboard is simple. All you need are a handful of household tools.

We run through three options for removing the RV headboard below. And give you all the inside insight you need to knock this out quickly.

Let’s get right into it, okay?

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How to Remove RV Headboard

Figuring out how to remove RV headboard installations is a lot easier than it looks.

Sure, the RV headboard will take up a ton of space in your bedroom. And it will be locked (or at least it looks that way) right into the exterior walls and framing.

Once you peek behind the curtains (so to speak), you realize quickly that getting this headboard out is almost effortless – especially if you have a couple of household tools.

Below we run through everything you need to know to master how to quickly and efficiently remove RV headboards without creating a ton of mess you need to clean up later.

Let’s get right into it!

Get Your Tools Together

The first thing you’ll need to do is get your tools together.

You could start swinging a sledgehammer and damage the joint if you wanted to remove everything and anything you hit in your compact RV bedroom.

And plenty of people have had great success with that, too!

But it might be better to be a little more deliberate and a little more strategic with removing your RV headboard. Especially if all you want to do is swap out the headboard itself without having to tear up the walls (or anything else) in your RV.

The tools you’ll need to get this job done right (regardless of which of the three approaches we highlight below you choose to use) include:

A cordless power drill with a Phillips head bit, a flat-head screwdriver bit, and a couple of small metal drill bits
A socket wrench (or two) with a complete run of SAE and metric sockets
Adjustable wrenches (channel locks work well, but any adjustable wrench will do in a pinch)
A framing hammer (20 ounces will work wonders, but even a 16-ounce hammer should do the job pretty well)
A cordless reciprocating saw

… And, if you have one lying around, this is the time to bust out your multitool/oscillating cutoff tool.

There you have it.

It would help if you had all the tools to tackle this project without making a mess.

First Approach

Okay, let’s start digging into the first approach to removing your RV headboard.

This assumes that your headboard has been screwed or bolted on. Usually at the top and the bottom of the headboard itself (though sometimes you’ll have bolts running through the headboard right into your framing).

You only need to use your power drill with the correct screwdriver bit to get that headboard off. If you’re dealing with bolts, the ratchets and sockets – and maybe even the adjustable wrenches – must be pulled out to tackle the job quickly.

When you have everything unattached, the headboard should just come loose. All you have to do from here is lift the headboard, pull it away from the wall, and check to see if any surprises connect you to the rest of the RV.

You might think your headboard would come free and clear, but some installers run electrical lights or wiring through the headboard (or behind the headboard), and you might have to deal with that right now.

If not, set the headboard aside – out of the RV, so you aren’t cluttering the place – and you are good to go.

Second Approach

Let’s say the screws or bolts you try to remove are slightly less cooperative.

If that’s the situation, you want to break out a quality reciprocating saw (every cordless tool manufacturer makes halfway decent one) and some wood or metal blades.

If you can get at the fasteners themselves, use a metal blade to cut clean through those screws and bolts until you can remove your headboard.

Sometimes, you won’t be able to get at the fasteners themselves with a reciprocating saw blade. And that’s when you want to throw in a wood blade and start chopping up the headboard.

If you decide to go down this road, try making as few cuts as possible. You want to take your headboard out in only a few chunks and ensure you’re making as little mess as possible.

Cut that thing away, get it free and clear, and then remove the chunks of headboard from your RV so you can get the rest of the renovation underway.

Third Approach

Let’s assume your reciprocating saw couldn’t “sneak” into the spots you needed to get that RV headboard free and clear.

When that happens, you’ll have to bust your trusty hammer (and maybe a flat bar) and start wailing away on the headboard.

The idea here is to use brute force to separate the headboard from the framing. You don’t need to go crazy. You don’t need to hulk bust things into tiny little pieces – but you’ll probably need to apply a little bit more elbow grease than if you are using the tools we highlighted above.

A brute force approach is sometimes necessary to get the results you’re looking for.

Clean Things Up

Regardless of how you get your headboard out, it would help if you took the time to really (and diligently) clean up the entire bedroom space in your RV.

When tackling a renovation like this (or any renovation, for that matter), a good habit is to keep your workplace as clean as possible.

Clutter doesn’t just make it challenging to maneuver in a compact space like an RV bedroom. It can also hide essential things you don’t want to miss – important things you don’t want to damage and things you don’t want to remove.

Clean as you go along. You won’t have to worry about ugly surprises bubbling up halfway through the renovation.

You also won’t have to worry about a ton of cleanup at the end of every day you’re working on your RV.

Prep for a New Headboard or a Replacement

Now that we have shown you how to remove RV headboard installations, it’s essential to ensure you know how to prep for a new headboard or replacement.

Regardless of how you remove your headboard from the RV, the odds are that you’ve got some holes in the wall that need to be patched.

Maybe you’ll get away with some drywall compound over a mesh patch. Perhaps you’ll have to cut bigger holes out, add bracing, cut new chunks of drywall, and then tape, prime, and paint.

Or maybe you’ll have to use a synthetic fiberglass filler, bongo material, or something else entirely!

Either way, you want to be sure that you take the time while this project is fresh to prep it for whatever you do with the space next.

Don’t leave this until later.

Closing Thoughts

Removing RV headboards is a pretty easy thing to master – even if you haven’t ever tackled many construction projects like this in the past.

All you have to do is make sure you’re taking your time and being deliberate in your actions. Always trying to anticipate what comes next.

This is not the most challenging project you’ll ever have to undertake, that’s for sure. The whole process – from start to finish – should only take you a couple of minutes. Maybe 30 minutes from start to finish (including cleaning up afterward).

Keep your space clean. Think through all the steps we highlighted above. Ensure you’re not making the project any larger than it should be. Ensuring you have your tools organized beforehand helps a lot, too. With some foresight and effort, you’ll have your old headboard out in no time and a new one installed in record time!